Planning network cable connections

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The cable-connection tables provide an easy to read method of recording the locations of current and planned cable connections for each control enclosure in the system.

Complete the network cable connection worksheet. For more information, see Network cable connections worksheet.

Use the following tables to plan the cable connections for each control enclosure in your system.

Ethernet connections

In addition to Ethernet ports 1 and 2 are used for management and iSCSI host I/O and IP replication. The on board Ethernet Ports 3 and 4 can be used for iSCSI host IO and IP replication. There are 5 total on board ports, 4 10 GbE Ports (1,2,3,4), and the 1GbE Technician port.

Note:
  • The 10 Gbps Ethernet RJ45 port works at 1 Gbps, if it is connected to a 1 Gbps Ethernet switch port.
  • For 100 Gbps Ethernet connectivity, you may use third-party 100GBASE-BIDI QSFP optical transceiver that meets the minimum standards specifications and standards that are listed in the Table 1. However, during troubleshooting, IBM support may ask customers to install IBM approved transceivers if the third-party transceivers are determined to cause the issue.
Table 1 provides a list of Ethernet cable standards. Ethernet cables are not supplied as part of your order. Ensure the cables that are used meet the minimum standards for the Ethernet port type.
Table 1. Ethernet cable standards
Ethernet adapter type Ethernet port type Connector Cable type Minimum standard Remark
On-board Ethernet ports 1 Gbps Ethernet port RJ45 Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Cat 5e or Cat 6 (up to 100 meters)  
On-board Ethernet ports 10 Gbps Ethernet port RJ45 Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Cat 6a or Cat 7 (up to 100 meters)  
2 Port 25 Gbps RoCE Adapter Card or 2 Port 25 Gbps iWARP Adapter Card 25 Gbps Ethernet port LC-SFP28 Transceiver (IBM feature) Optical fibre
  • OM3 (up to 70 m)
  • OM4 (up to 100 m)
  
2 Port 25 Gbps RoCE Adapter Card or 2 Port 25 Gbps iWARP Adapter Card 25 Gbps Ethernet port QSFP28 to SFP28 Passive Twinax DAC Cable (up to 2 m)
  • SFF-8432 transceiver specification
  • IEC60825-1 product safety specification
  • Operational temperature should be 0 deg C - 70 deg C. However, in some cases the temperature can reach to 85 deg C.
  
2 Port 25 Gbps RoCE Adapter Card or 2 Port 25 Gbps iWARP Adapter Card 10 Gbps Ethernet port RJ45 SFP+ connector (IBM feature) Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
  • Cat 6a or Cat 7 (up to 100 meters
 The 25 Gbps Adapter card runs as a 10 Gbps port when using the RJ45 SFP+ connector.
2 Port 25 Gbps RoCE Adapter Card or 2 Port 25 Gbps iWARP Adapter Card 10 Gbps Ethernet port LC - SFP+ Transceiver (IBM feature) Optical fiber
  • OM2 (up to 60 meters) or OM3 (60 - 150 meters)
 The 25 Gbps Adapter card runs as a 10 Gbps port when using the LC - SFP+ Transceiver connector.
2 Port 25 Gbps RoCE Adapter Card or 2 Port 25 Gbps iWARP Adapter Card 25 Gbps Ethernet port DAC (Direct Attached Copper) DAC: Twin-ax copper cable (up to 2 m)
  • SFF-8432 transceiver specification
  • IEC60825-1 product safety specification
  • Operational temperature should be 0 deg C - 70 deg C. However, in some cases the temperature can reach 85 deg C.
 The 25 Gbps adapter ports can work with 10 Gbps and 25 Gbps DAC cables.
2 Port 100 Gbps RoCEv2 Adapter Card 100 Gbps Ethernet QSFP28 (SR4) – Transceiver (IBM feature) MPO fabric
  • OM3 (up to 70 m)
  • OM4 (up to 100 m)
  
2 Port 100 Gbps RoCEv2 Adapter Card 100 Gbps Ethernet QSFP28 (SRBD) – Transceiver LC fabric Optical: OM3/OM4
  • SFF-8436 transceiver specification
  • IEC60825-1 product safety specification
  • Operational temperature should be 0 deg C - 70 deg C. However, in some cases the temperature can reach to 85 deg C.
  
2 Port 100 Gbps RoCEv2 Adapter Card 100 Gbps Ethernet AOC (Active Optical Cable) AOC: Ribbon optical fiber cable  
2 Port 100 Gbps RoCEv2 Adapter Card 100 Gbps Ethernet DAC (Direct Attached Copper) DAC: Twin-ax copper cable (up to 2 m)